Al Jazeera defends cricket match-fixing film after ICC criticism

Al Jazeera – Al Jazeera has hit back at criticism from world cricket’s governing body, the ICC, for not sharing evidence of match-fixing before broadcasting a documentary that has made headlines around the world.

Summary

Al Jazeera has hit back at criticism from world cricket’s governing body, the ICC, for not sharing evidence of match-fixing before broadcasting a documentary that has made headlines around the world.

Alex Marshall, the head of the International Cricket Council’s anti-corruption unit, complained that Al Jazeera’s refusal to hand over all “unedited and unseen evidence” had “hampered” the ICC’s investigation”.

But a spokesman for Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit said the ICC’s complaints showed “a failure to understand investigative journalism; no self-respecting media entity in the world releases its evidence to any party pre-publication”.

In this scene from Cricket’s Match-Fixers, our undercover reporter is offered large returns for placing bets [Al Jazeera]In one of the investigation’s many revelations, match-fixers in Sri Lanka described to an undercover reporter how they doctored two Test match pitches at Galle International Stadium to make money from betting.

The Investigative Unit’s spokesman added: “As our documentary shows, Al Jazeera is fully committed to exposing betting corruption in cricket and we have made it clear that we will co-operate fully with the relevant authorities.”